Deputies Arrest Sanford Man, 23, In Rape Of 17-year-old Girl

July 10, 1986|By Kirsten Gallagher of The Sentinel Staff (Reporters Leslie Kemp and Sara Roen contributed to this story.)

A Sanford man wanted in the rape of a 17-year-old Sanford girl in May was arrested Tuesday by Seminole County deputies.

Thomas James Rouse, 23, of 2020 Alexander St., is charged with raping the girl May 27 at 1:30 a.m. in woods on 18th St. in the Goldsboro area of Sanford.

The victim said the attack occurred after she and another woman left a party in the Midway area east of Sanford and gave two men a ride home, according to court records.

They dropped off one man. While heading to the home of the other man, he threatened to shoot them and ordered them to drive to 18th Street near Goldsboro Elementary School. He took both women's purses, then dragged the 17- year-old into woods where she was sexually assaulted, records indicate.

Rouse was arrested at 7:19 p.m. at Jerry Avenue in Sanford and was charged with two counts of sexual battery, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery. He is being held without bond in the Seminole County jail.